A medical worker in a Covid-19 nucleic acid testing cabin takes a swab sample from a resident for a Covid-19 nucleic acid test on August 22, 2022 in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China. It was a summer that saw record heat rise globally. China’s medical workers have been particularly affected, enduring relentless heat waves wrapped from head to toe in protective gear as they continue to conduct public health checks for Covid-19, amid a seemingly never-ending series of outbreaks.
Vcg | Visual China Corporation | beautiful pictures
It was a summer that saw record heat rise globally.
China’s medical workers have been particularly affected, suffering relentlessly heat wave wrapped from head to toe in protective gear as they continued to test the masses for Covid-19, in the midst of a seemingly never-ending string of outbreaks.
Wearing a hazmat suit known to the locals as “Big White”, the army of workers, is in charge of enforcement China’s No-Covid policy much of this year has endured in temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or more.
Joshua Liu, a medical worker from Shanghai, told NBC News by phone last month: “The condition inside is very airtight. “Once the suit was put on, we couldn’t eat, drink and go to the bathroom.”
The workers were “drenched in sweat” and had “wrinkled fingers and palms” when they took them off, said Liu, who helped medical staff collect Covid test samples and register residents’ information. .
“I could feel my skin breathing and sweating,” he says. “Every day when I get off work, the only thing I want to do is take a shower and fall asleep.”
The use of “Big White” was noticed last month when a video The scene of nurse Chunhua Xie lying on a bed in the emergency room with her limbs convulsing went viral on Chinese social media, after being published by officials in Nanchang county, Jiangxi province.
Wearing a protective suit, Chunhua conducted a Covid test for several days at the Nanchang County People’s Hospital, when she suffered from heatstroke and fainted, the video said. The video shows the temperature was just over 100 degrees outside the facility at the time.
Though she later recovered, the video sparked a backlash online and was later removed by officials.
But then it was widely shared and viewed by millions on WeiboChina’s largest microblogging site and other social media channels, where some accuse the government of incompetence.
A regular scene
“Big White” has become a regular image at Covid testing sites as medical workers follow guidelines on protective clothing issued by China’s National Health Commission in January. 2020, right after the original. Strong outbreak in Wuhan city.
In Shanghai, Liu said he and his colleagues often wear clothes that cover the body Shanghai’s two-month Covid lockdown Between March and May, when authorities pursued China’s resolute “zero Covid” policy, closing schools, malls, convenience stores and gyms , and stops bus, subway, and ferry services in the city.
In the following months, neighborhoods were barred from leaving and entering their neighborhoods without permits, Liu said he and his colleagues helped conduct mass checks and contact tracing, while also helping to enforce strict quarantine requirements.
But when the summer months come, temperatures above China began to rise and the mercury regularly hit 100 degrees in Shanghai. So far, temperatures of 104 degrees have increased sevenfold in the 25 million-person mall, surpassing the five-day record reached in 2013.
As a result, heatstroke began to trend on Chinese social media, as people discussed symptoms including headaches, vomiting and fever, or in more severe cases, people could convulsions or coma.
For Janice Ho, a postdoctoral fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, it’s a “good thing” when people search the term because it helps them “be more aware that heat actually has an impact.” touch death.”
By the time body temperature hits 100 degrees, “your organs will start to fail because it’s too hot to function and your body may stop regulating itself,” says Ho, whose research focuses on heat and public health added. “That’s when it becomes deadly. It’s very risky to die from it.”
Several deaths have been attributed to the intense heat, including the case of a 56-year-old construction worker in the city of Xi’an. Hospitalized with a temperature of 109.4 degrees, he died of multiple organ failure and heat stroke in July China Youth Daily reported.
After the Chunhua video was released, China’s National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases published an article saying that wearing “protective clothing (commonly known as “Big White”)… can greatly increases the risk of heat stroke.” Instead, medical personnel are advised to wear surgical gowns that are lighter and more breathable.
However, temperatures have continued to soar since then and on August 12, First “High temperature red alert” issued by China National Meteorological Center. That means four or more provinces have recorded temperatures above 100 degrees in a 48-hour period, and more than 10 are expected to reach between 100 and 108 degrees.
It remained in place for 12 days until August 23.
For Ho, this shows that extreme temperatures need to be taken as seriously as other extreme weather.
“There are drastic measures taken to prevent people from being put at risk by storms or rainstorms, but we didn’t treat the heat in the same way,” she said.
